Olivia De Berardinis

Olivia De Berardinis
Olivia De Berardinis in her Malibu studio, 2006
Born 1948 (age 69–70)
United States
Nationality American
Known for Illustration, pin-up art
Website eolivia.com

Olivia De Berardinis (born November 1948), known worldwide simply as Olivia, is an American artist who is famous for her paintings of women, often referred to as pinup or cheesecake art. She has been working in this genre since the mid-1970s,[1][2] becoming a contributor to Playboy in 1985.[3] By June 2004, she was given her own monthly pinup page for the magazine that continued for many years, often appearing with captions written by Hugh Hefner.[4]

Biography

Born in Long Beach, California, Olivia's childhood years were spent primarily on the East Coast. She attended the New York School of Visual Arts from 1967 to 1970, and resided in Soho, N.Y.C., from 1970 to 1974, creating Minimalist paintings. Olivia was one of the new artists introduced in the Second Annual Contemporary Reflections 1972-73, of the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, Connecticut. She was also presented as one of 18 new artists in the "Tenth Anniversary, the Larry Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art 1964-74" with established artists including Eva Hesse, Agnes Martin, and Frank Stella.

By 1975, financial pressures forced Olivia to seek out commercial art work. She returned to the skills she had gained as a child, painting women. She did work for periodicals and paperback publishers, advertisements, and movie posters. Olivia quickly secured regular work, starting in 1974, painting erotic fantasies for men's magazines. "Necessity shaped my career. I thought illustrating for sex magazines might be a fun temporary job until my 'real' career started. In the back of my mind I believed I would go back to the fine arts. It wasn't clear to me then, but this work became my art."

In 1977, she and partner Joel Beren started the O Card Company to publish Olivia's work as greeting cards. In 1979, she married Beren in New York City. They created another company, Ozone Productions, Ltd., to sell and license Olivia's artwork. In 1987, they moved from Manhattan, New York to Malibu, California, where they currently reside.[5]

Olivia's artwork has been shown in art galleries throughout the United States and Japan, and her work is collected by fans worldwide.

Further reading

  • Beauties Beasts, by Olivia De Berardinis and Jordu Schell, (Street Date: Feb 1, 2017), ISBN 978-1-61404-017-0
  • Malibu Cheesecake: The Pinup Art of Oliva, 2011, ISBN 0-929643-30-5
  • Bettie Page by Olivia, 2006, ISBN 0-929643-25-9
  • American Geisha: The Art Of Olivia III, 2003, ISBN 0-929643-15-1
  • Cheesecake Chronicles Volume 1: Art of Olivia, 2000, ISBN 0-929643-12-7
  • Second Slice: Art of Olivia II, 1997, ISBN 0-929643-07-0
  • Let Them Eat Cheesecake: The Art Of Olivia, 1993, ISBN 0-929643-06-2
  • The Great American Pin-Up, by Charles G. Martignette and Louis K. Meisel, ISBN 3-8228-1701-5

References

  1. ↑ Pin-Up Art Olivia de Berardinis in the "History of Art"
  2. ↑ The Pin-Up Files: Olivia de Berardinis
  3. ↑ De Berardinis, Olivia (2011). Malibu Cheesecake: The Pinup Art of Olivia. Malibu, CA: Ozone Productions, Ltd. p. 6. ISBN 0-929643-30-5. In 1985, Playboy photo editor Marilyn Grabovski asked me to work for her on a pictorial and cover for the magazine.
  4. ↑ De Berardinis, Olivia (2011). Malibu Cheesecake: The Pinup Art of Olivia. Malibu, CA: Ozone Productions, Ltd. p. 6. ISBN 0-929643-30-5. For the Playboy January 2003 issue, Hef started using my Bettie pinups, with captions he penned. By June 2004 my pinups became a regular monthly feature in the magazine.
  5. ↑ Malibu Cheesecake: The Pinup Art of Olivia. 2011. ISBN 0-929643-30-5.
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